5.3

GUIDE SUMMARY:The focus of this document is on the risk assessment of weighing and measuring instruments in the context of market surveillance, this is targeted at the point or close to the point instruments are put into the market.

The rationale behind this document is the need for more selective market surveillance, as a result of the increasingly limited resources of the WELMEC Member States. Another reason for such a document is the requirement in Art.19, 1 of REGULATION (EC) No 765/2008 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 9 July 2008 setting out the requirements for accreditation and market surveillance relating to the marketing of products and repealing Regulation (EEC) No 339/93. This article runs as follows:

“Market surveillance authorities shall perform appropriate checks on the characteristics of products on an adequate scale, means of documentary checks and, where appropriate, physical and laboratory checks on the basis of adequate samples. When doing so they shall take account of established principles of risk assessment, complaints and other information.”

Risk assessment directly related to weighing and measuring instruments, is one part of market surveillance; this is to understand the impact the instrument will have on the end user/consumer. The other part is using risk assessment as tool for the market surveillance authority to define priorities and to determine the choice of strategies to achieve their goals.

The way market surveillance is performed as with conducting a risk assessment is heavily influenced by a set of underlying assumptions and philosophies about its position, its role and the functions it performs in Member States.

To prevent duplication with “Best practice techniques in market surveillance” published by Prosafe, principles have been used when writing this document but it is not a direct copy.

AUTHORED BY: Working Group 5

Unless otherwise stated, the English version of each publication should be taken as the official version.

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